As Honda idles some workers for lack of automotive parts, other Central Ohio manufacturers are using aggressive recruiting to fill job slots. Columbus' jobless rate has fallen to 4% just as job openings accelerate in a couple of industries.

As Honda idles some workers for lack of automotive parts, other Central Ohio manufacturers are using aggressive recruiting to fill job slots. Columbus’ jobless rate has fallen to 4% just as job openings accelerate in a couple of industries.

One of Columbus’ oldest manufacturers is now scrambling to find workers. Columbus Castings executive Brett Holst says the market for the company’s products is strong.

“We’re actually hiring right now. We’re looking to add at least another 250 people to our payroll,” says Holst.

Holst and other area manufacturers are recruiting potential workers as the pool of available workers shrinks. Bureau of Labor statistics show Columbus’ jobless rate has dropped from 5.5% at this time last year, to the current 4%. That means 15,000 fewer people looking for work in the Columbus region.

“Within certain sectors there are tighter labor markets. And I would point to manufacturing as one of those with a tighter labor market,” says Huddle.

Huddle says its much the same story for information technology, or I-T, where there are also more job opportunities than job applicants to fill them.

For Columbus Castings, Holst says that means his company must constantly recruit.

“We’ve tried to add quite a few employees and it’s a challenge everyday to bring in qualified employees,” says Holst.

Columbus Castings draws workers from about a 30 mile radius including Circleville and Lancaster. As a steel manufacturer, the company employs a mostly male workforce. But, Nosha Boysay is an exception. She encourages other women to apply.

“I mean if you can adjust to this type of environment, of course, yes, why not,” says Boysay.

Boysay is a welder. She cuts steel with a torch.

“I mean you’re on your feet all day. What I do is I’m a welder on final finish for the chippers. If they need something welded or burnt, then that’s what I do,” Boysay adds.

Boysay is also likely to be retained for the forseeable future. Columbus Castings makes wheel housings for railroad cars and Holst says demand for the castings is growing as railroads buy new and upgrade tanker cars to haul oil from wells to refineries and ports.

“That has certainly been a driver of our growth and we expect it to continue to be for the next two or two and a half years for sure,” says Holst.

A federal agency wants to fine a Columbus manufacturer for safety violations.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued four safety citations against Columbus Castings. OSHA says the company has exposed workers to machine hazards at the South Parsons Avenue plant.

In the latest incident in April, a worker suffered a broken back and other serious injuries when he was pinned by a hydraulic machine.

The company makes steel castings for rail car manufacturers and other heavy industry. It recently announced a near doubling of its workforce.

OSHA proposes a $90,000. The company has 15 business days to either pay the fine or file an appeal.

The struggling South Side of Columbus is getting a major boost. After several down years, the neighborhood’s long time major employer has announced it plans to nearly double its workforce.

Longtime residents have fond memories of a vibrant South Side neighborhood. But nostalgia gives way to a different, more recent picture of the city’s south end: boarded up homes, crime, high poverty and unemployment rates.

Three years ago, more than a fifth of local residents were out of work.

Coleman attended a groundbreaking ceremony at what will become the Reeb Avenue Center. In addition to social and educational services, the facility will serve as a job training site.

“To help train the folks who are going to take the jobs right down the street,” he said.

Right down the street at Columbus Castings, the largest U.S. steel foundry. The foundry melts recycled steel to make rail car parts.

Over the years, the company has had its ups and downs. Company chairman Joseph Haviv said six years ago, during the recession, his company was on the edge.

“We lost, overnight, 80 percent of our business in sales. If anybody knows anything about business, they’ll tell you, if you lose 20 to 30 [percent] you don’t survive,” Haviv said. “My guideline was very precise. We won’t shut down.”

They did not shut down and now it’s growing. Demand for rail cars is rising and that’s welcome news for Columbus Castings. The company plans to hire 550 new workers.

Haviv said the company’s hiring will focus on South Side neighbors and veterans.

“Everything happens because of will and skill. We know we have to build the skill. It’s a question of what the will is,” Haviv said. “If they want to improve themselves, we want to be a good home for them.”

The jobs will pay between $13 and $26 an hour plus benefits.

Debera Diggs lives and works on the South Side. Diggs said the jobs will provide stability for many local residents.

“To be able to offer your children opportunities that you may not have been able to envision at any point in time before. To be able to maybe have a decent car to get back and forth to work and not worry about public transportation,” Diggs said. “To be able to pay your bills when they’re due and not have to depend on other social service programs to supplement that.”

Longtime South Side resident Robert Henry said he hopes the new job opportunities will reduce neighborhood crime.

“Since the job market went south so to speak, the crime has kind of skyrocketed.”

Another longtime South Side resident Ramona Harris said, anecdotally, she’s noticed a drop in crime. She attributes it to area development.

Harris said she thinks the new jobs will help boost home values.

“The people will have a better aspect of what it takes to get up and get going and improve the property values,” she said. “And [the residents] have more pride than I’ve seen in all the years that I’ve been here which has been since 1997.”

]]>http://wosu.org/2012/news/2014/09/03/columbus-castings-south-side-hire-550-workers/feed/0Columbus Castings,south sideThe struggling South Side of Columbus is getting a major boost. After several down years, the neighborhood’s long time major employer has announced it plans to nearly double its workforce.The struggling South Side of Columbus is getting a major boost. After several down years, the neighborhood’s long time major employer has announced it plans to nearly double its workforce.WOSU Newsno3:21Columbus Castings Adding 500 Jobshttp://wosu.org/2012/news/2014/09/03/columbus-castings-adding-500-jobs/
http://wosu.org/2012/news/2014/09/03/columbus-castings-adding-500-jobs/#commentsWed, 03 Sep 2014 12:49:58 +0000Steve Brownhttp://wosu.org/2012/news/?p=77699

Columbus Castings says it will add 500 positions at its South Side foundry.

Even though Ohio has decided not to expand passenger rail service, a Columbus company is benefiting. Columbus Castings makes rail car components. A top federal official toured the company touting the economic benefits of passenger rail. As advocates call for more tax money, rail skeptics remain unconvinced.

Everything is loud at Columbus Castings: the sounds, the sites, even the smells. And itâ€™s steaming hot.

A large conveyer rolls overhead deep inside the foundry.

Around the corner in another building, workers put the final touches on rail car undercarriages for Amtrak trains.

â€œWeâ€™ve got castings staged for paint, and then the finished product which will actually go under the rail car is there with the gray enamel on it,” Columbus Castings manager Jesse Morris said. â€œItâ€™s old school, but in the same token itâ€™s very high tech.â€

The Amtrak order created 30 local jobs. Another contract with rail car manufacturer Nippon Sharyo will mean 50 more jobs.

â€œAs the economy grows and the transit industry grows we expect it to come to Columbus, and then, of course, grow our economy base right here in Columbus, Ohio, as well.â€

Thatâ€™s the type of news and stats Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo likes to tout. Szaboâ€™s pushing Congress to approve spending $19 billion for rail projects that he says will create even more jobs.

â€œItâ€™s because of those projects in Illinois and Michigan that Columbus Castings here has just gotten that order from Nippon Sharyo,” Szabo said. “Nippon Sharyo is building the 130 high-performing coaches for the Midwest, as well as the state of California, and itâ€™s that order that has resulted in the $70 million investment in 50 new jobs here in Ohio.â€

And Szabo said as the population increases and demand for freight systems grows, there will be a need for more rail investment.

In 2010, The Kasich Administration turned down federal dollars to help construct a rail line from Cleveland to Cincinnati. And critics say that was a smart move. They point to Californiaâ€™s high-speed rail project which is now double original estimates at $68 billion.

â€œIf they ever find the money to ever do that system, I expect that figure to be closer to $100 billion by the time they get finished,” Robert Poole said.

Poole is The Reason Foundationâ€™s transportation director. He opposes high-speed passenger rail in most cases in the U.S. He said itâ€™s expensive, not self-sustaining; and not competitive.

â€œItâ€™s very, very hard to see anything like the future for passenger that it has today in Europe or Japan.â€

And Poole said itâ€™s unclear if jobs created from rail projects subsidized by federal dollars are actually net gains.

â€œThe places that get the jobs are benefited, but the taxpayers that pay more taxes across the country to pay for it have less money to spend on other things,” he said. “So itâ€™s not at all clear thereâ€™s a net job creation.â€

The $19 billion in rail money is part of the Obama Administrationâ€™s large transportation bill. Most of the $300 billion measure would shore up funding for highway construction and maintenance.

The number of hydraulically fractured wells drilled in Ohio has now topped 800. About half of those wells are producing natural gas and oil. While debates over safety and severance taxes continues, production is reaching critical mass. And that has created need for more railroad capacity. The rail improvements have rippled into Frazeysburg and Columbus.

The number of hydraulically fractured wells drilled in Ohio has now topped 800. About half of those wells are producing natural gas and oil.

While debates over safety and severance taxes continues, production is reaching critical mass. And that has created need for more railroad capacity. The rail improvements have rippled into Frazeysburg and Columbus.

The need to quickly transport oil and natural gas liquids away from Ohio shale drill sites is spurring new short-line rail construction. Matthew Dietrich at the Ohio Rail Development Commission counts 32 short line railroad companies. Some struggled for years as manufacturing and coal shipments declined. But, the new oil and gas production is throwing them an economic lifeline.

“What you’re seeing now are some lines that were either preserved and had very little traffic or were maintained but not for the coal traffic, for other traffic that developed along the line now have this resurgence of basically they’re back in the energy business so too speak, moving energy products,” Dietrich said.

A critical link

Dietrich says Ohio’s short line railroads provide critical links between storage terminals and the national rail network

“What we’re facing is a bit of a challenge in Eastern Ohio in re-habbing this infrastructure to meet the need,” adds Dietrich.

Dietrich says both public and private monies are being used to upgrade short line rails. And the investments are being felt in Ohio communities large and small.

In the village of Frazeysburg, 55 miles east of Columbus, it’s mostly quiet on a week-day morning. Little-used train tracks bisect the town. Four miles outside the village, a Texas company is spending $6 million to re-activate a storage and rail transfer terminal. It will be the first facility to haul oil and natural gas products to refineries and chemical processing plants from Ohio’s shale region. Frazeysburg’s mayor, Gary Middlemus says the rail line improvements are a bellwether of more investment.

“Yes, I think it is because you can tell they’ve added on to it down there and improved it a lot so I don’t think they’ve been putting all that money in there if they don’t plan on something,” Middlemus said.

The company, Enlink Midstream, says the spur railroad at Frazeysburg will move crude oil and other products at a rate of 24,000 barrels per day.

More oil, more trains

While more tank cars begin moving out of Frazeysburg, executives at a Columbus foundry are also seeing effects from shale production, not only in Ohio but nationwide. Columbus Castings sales executive, Jeff Laird, says the Parsons Avenue manufacturer is making and selling more heavy metal castings and couplings to railcar companies. He suggests taking notice of that rolling train when stopped at a crossing.

“On each end of that car you see two wheels,” says Laird. “Well, those two wheels are held together by a large casting that goes over the axles and the bearings of those cars which holds those together. Those are the castings that we make here as far as probably our bread and butter.”

More jobs

Laird says the industry is expected to build more than 60,000 new railcars this year. Nearly half of those cars will be tankers designed to haul oil and natural gas liquids. Columbus Castings currently employs 900 workers. But, Laird says demand for new railcars will likely require more employees.

“Given more volume business we would pick up and add a complete second shift. So, we expect business to pick up the coming months,” says Laird.

The resurgence of short line railroads in Ohio is part of what oil industry officials call the midstream or next phase of the shale play. Well production in counties that hug the Ohio river is substantial enough now to convince private and public investment in transportation. So far, nine short line rail improvement projects have been started in eastern Ohio. Continued improvements in Ohio’s freight rail network hinges on the price of crude oil.

]]>http://wosu.org/2012/news/2014/04/14/increased-ohio-shale-fracking-drives-demand-for-rail-improvements/feed/2Columbus Castings,Enlink Midstream,Ohio Rail Development CommissionThe number of hydraulically fractured wells drilled in Ohio has now topped 800. About half of those wells are producing natural gas and oil. While debates over safety and severance taxes continues, production is reaching critical mass.The number of hydraulically fractured wells drilled in Ohio has now topped 800. About half of those wells are producing natural gas and oil. While debates over safety and severance taxes continues, production is reaching critical mass. And that has created need for more railroad capacity. The rail improvements have rippled into Frazeysburg and Columbus.WOSU Newsno4:20Columbus Leaders Say Rail Upgrade Will Spur Regional Economyhttp://wosu.org/2012/news/2012/11/02/columbus-leaders-say-rail-upgrade-will-spur-regional-economy/
http://wosu.org/2012/news/2012/11/02/columbus-leaders-say-rail-upgrade-will-spur-regional-economy/#commentsFri, 02 Nov 2012 04:10:29 +0000Tom Borgerdinghttp://wosu.org/2012/news/?p=37845

City backers say continued growth of the Central Ohio economy depends, in part, on more exports from area businesses. Now , with help from a Washington think tank and capital improvements by freight railroads the region has a better chance to compete with coastal or Great Lakes cities as an export marketer.

City backers say continued growth of the Central Ohio economy depends, in part, on more exports from area businesses. Now , with help from a Washington think tank and capital improvements by freight railroads the region has a better chance to compete with coastal or Great Lakes cities as an export marketer.

When freight trains roll in and out of Columbus now more railcars are likely to be double stacked with large steel containers. It’s a recent phenomenon, made possible by the hollowing out of tunnels along rail lines between Columbus and the east coast. Chief Executive Officer of Columbus 2020, Kenny McDonald, says the improvements of rail lines and the larger tunnels had a quick effect.

“Almost immediately you started to see what’s called the Heartland corridor from Norfolk, Virginia to, Chicago, running straight through Columbus, have double-stacked cars and containers almost be the norm now.”

For railroads the double-stacked cars are a way to move more auto parts, steel, grain, coal, toys, and apparel products at lower cost. McDonald says railyards at Rickenbacker and on Westbelt Drive have both been upgraded with huge cranes to load and unload the double-stacked cars. McDonald adds the regional economy will also benefit from another large project that will save transportation time.
“When the Panama Canal is widened and finished, completed with its expansion in 2014. We think Columbus, Ohio will be one of the two or three biggest winners in the whole effort because we’re an equilibrium point between the west coast and the east coast.” Says McDonald

Even though Columbus is landlocked, The Brookings Institution, a Washington D.C. liberal think tank, says in 2010 Columbus exported nearly eight billion dollars worth of goods and services but it lagged in manufacturing exports. Now, some area manufacturers are looking for more business overseas. A southeast side business sells poultry processing equipment to Brazil, Latin America, and Russia. Columbus Castings Chief Executive Rick Ruebusch says his Parsons Avenue foundry already sells to Kazakhstan, Colombia, and Canada, but the company will add more exports next year.

“In August , we’re going to be exporting American made rail product to China.” Says Ruebusch.

Some of the double-stacked rail cars emptied in Columbus will be re-filled with soybeans from area farms. Micah Mork at Gavillon grain near West Jefferson says the bigger containers and the Panama cut-through will make for a shorter trip to Jakarta.

“We’ve got a really good bean program. We’ve been putting beans in our containers and those have been going for human consumption in Indonesia and those places. So we have a pretty good export program here out of Central Ohio for tofu and the whole nine yards. They eat them and they feed them and they really like the Central Ohio product.” Says Mork.

Brookings estimates exports from Central Ohio support more than 55-thousand jobs. Business and community advocacy groups say they want more export related jobs, even though the city is landlocked and must depend on roads and rails to get local goods to international sea lanes.

]]>http://wosu.org/2012/news/2012/11/02/columbus-leaders-say-rail-upgrade-will-spur-regional-economy/feed/1Columbus 2020,Columbus Castings,rickenbacker,WestbeltCity backers say continued growth of the Central Ohio economy depends, in part, on more exports from area businesses. Now , with help from a Washington think tank and capital improvements by freight railroads the region has a better chance to compet...City backers say continued growth of the Central Ohio economy depends, in part, on more exports from area businesses. Now , with help from a Washington think tank and capital improvements by freight railroads the region has a better chance to compete with coastal or Great Lakes cities as an export marketer.WOSU Newsno3:07